Bottle opener and stopper.



No. 848,576. PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907. A. W. STEPHENS.

BOTTLE OPENER AND STOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. 1907.

5o@ Figure i represents' Att'ti-S'IUS W. STEPHENS, OF iVifil/PHAM, tIASSACHUSETTS.`

BGTTLE` (JEDENERl AND STPFER.

A No. 848,576.

To (1J/- wim/2L it 'lit/ty cm1/ecru:

Be it luiowirtliat l, LGUsTUs iV. Sirk;- rurlxs, of \\v'altham, in the county ot Middlesex and State oll Massachusetts, have invented eertaiirnew and useful Improvements in Bottle Openers and Stoppers, of which the following is aI speci'tication.

This invention has tor its object to provide an ii'istrument adapted to removethe paper covers which are usually used i' or closing the mouths ot nulli-bottles and also to serve as Specification of Letters Patent. Application tiled January 15, 1907. Serial No. 352,395.

a closure for such a bottle after the cover has l been removed.

The cover 'lor milk-bottles new in almost 'universal use is the circular 'disk o'l" still' tough paper or 'ardboard which is inserted a slight distance within the mouth. ot the bottle. lt is impossible to remove this cover by the iingers alone; but a pointed instrument which can pierce the paper is necessary for this pi i1p .ise. .fitter a bott-le has once been opened and party but not. all, oi the contents removed it is necessarv or desirable to cover the bottle again. it in aga-in closing the bottle the saine cover is used, a repetition otl the inconvenience and trouble in 'removing the cover is experienced whenever" the necessity arises ol pouring; out more ot the milli. lrevious to this time instruments have lbeen devised which can be used conveniently to pierce and remove these paper coverings; but il' the cover has been replaced a second removal needs asimilar employment et the opening device, and therefore is a cause of annoyance which is unnecessary.

B v my present invent-ion l have devised a combined bottle opener and stopper which is etl'ective for removing the original cover and then may be used itselll as a temper-.uwY closure of the iottle between the time ol" 'lirst opening and emptying the saine. lts use ena iles the original coveringy to be thrown away when iirst removed and avoids the in-y convenience and annoyance oi' opening; the bottlea second or third time by the coverremovingr member. y

The aecomlntnying drawings illustrate the torniation and manner oi' use et' an article on'ibodying` my invention.

an elevation ot one form of the device. lfig. 2 represents an elevation, partlyY in seethin, ot a moditied construction adapted for the s'ame purposes as the device in Fig. i. l|` 3 and. -t represent sectional views ot a milk-bottle illustrating the two functions of the device.

twist, the pointed end Cfbeing cone with the smallest diameter of the Patented Maren 26, i907. f"

The same reference characters indicate the,- same parts in all the tigures. l The article embodying my invention-consista` of a main body af, Which has at one end a. prong l), which is sharpened at its ond ,to a point c. .This prong extends downward, from the center of the 'lower end of the body, and between its point of connection therewith'and its end is otlset so as to extend laterally. .In Fig. t the prong is a hook-shaped-y niember which is bent so that its end portion extends approximately.parallelwith the'bottom tace ot the body. in Figi the prong isf4 represented by b and is formed with a helical brought back. into the axial line ot the body a--that is, directly in line with the point of between the prong and the body.Y The ott'- set intermediate portion of the prong is bent com ilete turn of' a helix.

The body a is shaped as a trustum-ota conical portion less than and the largest diameter greater than the mouth oi the ordinary mille;

bottle. 'lhereby when the instrument 1s inserted into the open mouth oi such a bottle. some portion of its conical surface will bear against the rim and eti'ectually close the mouth. i\" ear the upper or outer end of the 'body is a groove d, which permits the formation oi' a bea-d c., whereby the instrument can be readily handled.4 y

The function which the instrument serves ot opening' the bottle is illustrated in Figli, herein t-liodotted lines show they device of v the character illustrated in Fig. l in position preliminary to removing the iaper covering or disk stopper j lroin the ottle g. The

point. ofthe prong is engaged with the cover 'neath the lower surface thereof.

somewhere near the middle of the saine and is then pushed forward in a horizontal direction. The downward inclination of the point, which iselearlyl illustrated in the tigures7 causes it to pierce the cover and lie be- Thereupon when the instrument is raised it carries the cover with it. The latter'may then be readily removed and thrown away.

the paper In using the form of device shown in Fig. .2 the sharpened point is iirst pushed through cover at any convenient voint preferably near the edge, so as to avoid the danger ot bending the cover and pushing it down into the bottle-neck below the supporting-shoulder h. After insertionvot the pointJ connection v sutliciently iar, preferably, to constitute one IOO IIO

a turn of the instrument brings the offset n portion of 'the prong beneath the cover, so that lifting of the instrument will engage and :ariythe cover away from the bottle With it. @"Whenever it is necessary vafter rst openthe bottle .to close it again, the instrument may be inserted in the open mouth, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, when the conical sides thereof will rest either against the shoulder h or the rim fi, according to the lrelative diameters of the latter and the taper of the instrument. This eectually closes the bottle, so that nothing external may fall into it and so that the contents'will not spill over ifvit is rapidly moved. W'hen itis desired to pour out morelof the bottles contents, itis only necessar to remove the stopper and then replace'it ike an ordina-ry bot'- tle-sto per, thereby avoiding the necessity of asearc for the paper-cover remover and the trouble of picking the same out vof the bottle and a ain settin it in place. l i

In t e top su ace of the body portion a I provide a circular depression or recess j', on the' bottom of which advertising matter ma be printed or a printed card may be secure d The annular rim 7," surrounding the recess,

f guards against rubbing of the bottom of the recess, and so protectsdthe-printed matter against erasure. v

Preferably the body portion ofthe instrument is made from Wood or other firm and easily-Worked material,- While the portion.

which serves as the cover-remover-that is,

vthe prong-is madeof metal, with a shank inserted and secured in an orificeextending from the bottom end of thebody. If dcsired, however, the body portion may be 1s but a slight distance below the ilat bottom made of other suitable material. A

As shown in the drawings, the 'bottom of the plug-stopper a is wide and flat, so that it can seat squarely on the paper or disk stopf The prong has an offset portion which perf.

surface of the plug-sto ing, in fact, only slig intol the bottle to be su per, said distance betly in excess of the thickness ofthe usual aper or disk 'stopper f. Therefore When the evice is to be used, as described, for extracting the paper or disk sto per, the' prong being pushed through suc disk, the plug-sto per a can be used as a lever by means of w ich the disk can be pried out by anleasy motion and with very ittle effort. This is becausethe vwide sur` face of theplug-stopper enables thereo'to rest upon the disk near the point where the latter rests upon the shoulder L of the bottle. This oint sevesas a .Fulcrum to enable considerable leverage to be obtained, the plug-stopper being high enough so that the disk stopper will be removed by a rocking movement on such ulcrum rectu 'v /ard pull. Then, as stated, when the diskfihas been removed and slipped off from the prong the plug-stopper a can be used to close the mouth of the bottle and without risk of the metal prong rejecting far enough lmerged in the milk. l claim.` A' combined stop er and disk remover,

comprising a ta ere body shaped to fit the one edge mouth of a mil r-bottle and having a rigid wide flat bottom surface and having a hooked rong adapted to engage a disk stopper, the

ottoni of said body being of slightly less diameter than the mouth of the bottle and said body being of a height to enable it to be operated as the long arm of a lever to remove a disk stopper while one edge of the bottom portion rests upon such disk near the margin thereof.

In testimony whereof I have afxe'd my signature in presence of two witnesses'.

AUGUSTUS W. STEPHENS. Witnesses A. H. BROWN, C. F. BROWN. 

